Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-07-17
GEO. WASHINGTON.
Strange History Concerning the
Father of His Country.


Father of His Country.
Washington Cor. st. Louis Globe Democrat
April 9th.
In the cemetery at Shawneetown
ILL.,, there is pointed out tomb with
the explanation that beneath is buried
the son of Washington"
But Washington had no children -
the visitor argues. HE was the
father of his country, and that was
the extent of his paternity"
The Shawneetownsman repeats his
assertion and stoutly stands by it. He
refers to the oldest and most respected
inhabitants of the once proud metrop-
oils of the Ohio Valley to back him
up. If the visitor is of an inquiring
turn of mind he will soon find that all
Shawneetown believes this tradition,
and those who have lived in the
ancient city longest have the strongest
faith. They got the story from their
parents who lived in Shawneetown
before them, and there has never been
any doubt about the truth of it.
The tomb has many counterparts in
the old graveyards of this country.
Four slabs form the sides and ends,
while fifth slab forms the top, the
edges artistically beveled and over
tapping. The stones are still in a
good state of preservation, and the
lettering, now much more than half a
century old, is distinct. On the top
slab is the following:
In memory of General Thomas
Posey, who was born in 1850, and died
in 1919 oUo1 ~ rtoarc ap6 IN doyo
He was an honest man and pious
Christian.
One of the side slabs is nearly COW
cred with an inscription of extraordin-
ary length, reciting the history of the
departed. In style, spelling and
punctuation, this inscription reads:
Thomas Posey was born in Virginia
9th July, 1850. He entered Indepen-
dence war as Captain, 1776, lat its close
was Lieutenant-C Colonel. At the storm
of Stony Point, he was first to give the
word "The Forts our own." In the
American Republic he was Brigadier-
General in the U. S. Army; Senator
in Congress and Governor OF Indiana
Territory; in Kentucky he was Lieu
tenant-Governor and Major-General:
nc Ill Ou lllc lJll Vi
March, 1918. Leaving an unstain-
ed character, Lasting Monument of
his Virtue.
The inscription on the end slab is
in keeping with the unique character
of the rest. In the center is the weep
ing willow tree, once popular in grave
yard art. About the tree is chiselled
the following:
Alexr Posey,
This Monument Was Erected By His 9TH Son
A ID. 1884.
Some OF the oldest and most esti-
mable citizens Of Shawneetown were
talked with in regard to this tradition
Of the parentage of General Posey.
They had heard it as far hack as they
could remember, and with such posi-
tiveness that they looked upon it as
veracious, although unwritten history.
There was no question, they said, but
that those who lived in Shawneetown
when Posey did regarded him as the
son of Washington. One fact in the
way of corroborative testimony was
the striking resemblance in form and
feature. This resemblance was trans
mitted to the sons of General Posey,
dition.
The oldest physician in Shawnee
town, who in his youth was the family
doctor of the Poseys, and who attended
one of the Sons of the general at his
death, said to the writer that he had
heard the story when he came to |
Shawneetown to settle. This physi- |
clans professional relations with the |
family gave opportunities to satisfy
his curiosity, and he improved them.
Said he: "There is no doubt in my |
mind that General Pose was the son
of George Washington. His fam
ily so understood it, and l re-
ceived my impressions from the |
ladies' of the family. They were
rather reluctant to speak of the sub
ject, as it seemed to be the under
standing among them that it should
not be talked about. When they told
me what they did, they cautioned me
against referring to it in the presence
OF the sons of General Posey. So far
as l know, the men never referred to
the matter in any way whatever. The
resemblance of the son, whom l at
tended on his deathbed, to the pic
lures we have of Washington, was
certainly very remarkable. He had
the same high forehead and prominent
features"
Recently this story, as told in Shaw
neetown, was briefly related to Mr..
Ainsworth r. Spofford, who for many
years has had charge of the Congress
sional Library in Washington. Mr..
Spoford is the intimate friend of Ban
croft, and probably has read and
heard more about Washington than
has any other living man except the
historian.
"Have they anything but tradition
to base it upon ?" asked Mr.. Spofford.
The narrator was bound to say that
it was all tradition so far as Shawee-
town folks were concerned.
at is possible there may be some
thing in the Port Folio" suggested
Mr.. Sofford. Probably nobody but a
walking encyclopedia would have
though of looking in a Port Folio for
the desired information. How many
readers of to-day ever saw a number
of the Port Folio, or ever heard of it?
Yet the Port Folio was in 1924 what
the Century, the atlantic or the North
American is to-day.
In the old leather-bound volume of
several numbers of the Port Folio for
1924 appears sketch of General
Posey, interesting for what it contains
and also interesting for some things it
does not contain.
'Thomas Posey," says the anony-
NOUS writer, twas born OF respectable
parentage near the Potomac, in Vir-
pinia, on the 9th of July, in the year